A CASE OF MISDIRECTED FRUSTRATION

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South African squatters wrongly
blame Zimbabweans for their poverty, misery

A deep sense of hopelessness,
caused by the miseries they have to endure, is driving South
Africans to vent their anger on foreigners.

An analyst at the Centre for
Policy Studies, Dumisane Hlope, says the current conflict between
Zimbabwean nationals and South Africans in Zandspruit squatter
camp, north of Johannesburg, has to be seen in this light.

More than 100 shacks belonging
to Zimbabweans have been torched by the locals, who have blamed
the foreigners for a spate of criminal activities in the area,
including the murder of a woman.

The Zimbabweans have also been
accused of taking jobs away from South Africans.

"I don't think the problem
in Zandspruit has anything to do with xenophobia. Rather, I
believe it is about people's socioeconomic status," Hlope
said.

Poverty, homelessness and
joblessness were at the heart of the conflict, said Hlope.

"When people are
frustrated they are quick to find enemies to blame for their
problems. And in this case, Zimbabweans are nearest to
blame."

Hlope said the South Africans
were barking up the wrong tree. "These people (locals) do
not realise that if the Zimbabweans were to leave tomorrow their
lives would not change at all. They will not see the jobs they
say the Zimbabweans are taking away from them," he said.

Hlope called on government to
speed up the delivery process, to address people's needs and
avert a repeat of the Zandspruit scenes elsewhere.

Thami ka Plaatjie, Pan
Africanist Congress general secretary, said: "People are
frustrated but fail to direct their anger at the correct
quarters. Instead of directing their anger at government they are
now fighting with the Zimbabweans. That is sad."

Ka Plaatjie said it was
disappointing that the conflict should take place a month after
government spent millions of rands sponsoring a global conference
against racism and other ills such as xenophobia.

"It is even more
scandalous that President Thabo Mbeki has chosen to be silent on
this matter when he is so vocal about the African
renaissance," he said.

Johannesburg mayor Amos Masondo
said the conflict was a result of simmering tensions among
residents and was not triggered by xenophobia. "The
situation is worrying and cannot be allowed to continue," he
said.

Masondo said he had dispatched
a member of his mayoral committee to the area to in an effort to
end the bitter conflict.

But Zimbabweans view the
situation at Zandspruit as yet another harassment inspired by
hatred from South Africans. They view the expulsion of illegal
Zimbabweans from Northern Province farms as an example. Although
the expulsion of 15000 Zimbabwean farm workers from SA was
stopped at the last minute, it has not stopped about 8000 of them
from returning to Zimbabwe.

"South African xenophobia
against Zimbabweans is growing and the lawlessness displayed by
so many (of them) when they express their hatred of outsiders is
appalling," Zimbabwe's statecontrolled daily newspaper, The
Herald, said in an editorial.

"Even as illegal
residents, the Zimbabweans were entitled to protection of the
law. The South Africans have been lecturing us for the past two
years on the need to obey all laws. Perhaps this same bunch of
do-gooders will put their words into practice and do something
for the attacked Zimbabweans."

Diplomatic sources in Harare
said the move by SA and Botswana to expel Zimbabweans was a
"calculated threat" to bring home to President Robert
Mugabe the likely consequences of spreading regional unemployment
and investment flight.

Concerned that Zimbabwean
events would hurt member economies, the Southern African
Development Community urged Mugabe to solve the land reform
crisis "amicably and peacefully".